Aging Well in 2012

As we watch our parents and grandparents age poorly and move into nursing homes, we want something better for ourselves in old age. We want to age well. Which 50-year-old would you choose to be?

 

Healthy neck X-ray of a 50-year-old (the person is facing to the right): no evidence of osteoarthritis or degenerative disc disease, and no interference to the function of the brainstem or spinal cord.

Diseased neck X-ray of a 50-year-old: advanced osteoarthritis (bone spurs) and advanced degenerative disc disease, with pressure on the brainstem causing malfunction of body systems.

If people wore their spines on their faces, everyone would be taking good care of their spine and nervous system, guaranteed! It is not our intent to frighten people, but to help them understand that they have choices in their quality of life as they age. The choices you make today will affect your life 10, 20, and even 30 years from now. The same is true regarding the choices you make for your children. Make a positive choice by adding a chiropractor to your health care team!

Aging is a requirement. Deterioration is optional.

About the author: Dr. Barbara Kaiser, DC, CCWP, is a wellness-certified family chiropractor at Vital Life Chiropractic in Eagan, Minnesota.

Read Full Post »

Cheap or Free: The Show-Off Vitamin

Would you trust a nutrient with 3000 cancer studies under its belt? In 2009, a very ambitious research team reviewed these studies. Here’s what they found: we could prevent 100,000 people from developing cancer every year, if we increased our vitamin D intake. They identified ten different ways that vitamin D fights cancer. What a productive little multitasker!

We need vitamin D to absorb calcium from our intestines. It regulates more than 200 unique human genes. When vitamin D isn’t preventing cancer, it’s helping our bodies build bones, prevent heart disease, and fight cold/flu bugs. Okay, now vitamin D is just being a show-off. We have two options for getting more D: cheap (less than $10/month) or free (sunlight).

If you like it cheap:  The U.S. RDA for vitamin D intake, 600 IU, is intended to build bone, not to prevent chronic illnesses. It is almost impossible to get enough vitamin D through fortified foods alone. For this reason, we may need to take at least 2000 IU per day of vitamin D3. It’s widely available in tablet or liquid form.

If you like it free: Sunlight produces vitamin D in unprotected skin at a phenomenally high rate. Get 10 minutes of unprotected sun exposure each day in the summer. In Minnesota, we need 20 minutes or more in the winter months, and most of us need to supplement with vitamin D3 (see above).

The most recent research indicates that 40-60 ng/mL is the optimal level of vitamin D in your blood. The blood test for vitamin D may require only a fingerprick and 5 minutes of your time.

About the author: Dr. Barbara Kaiser, DC, CCWP, is a wellness-certified family chiropractor at Vital Life Chiropractic in Eagan, Minnesota.

Read Full Post »

Two Types of Chiropractors

Not all chiropractors are alike. Although they go by the same name, chiropractors can differ greatly in treatment goals. The traditional philosophy that chiropractic was based on has never changed, but for social acceptance, some chiropractors have. As a result, when patients go to different chiropractors they get different treatment schedules, results, and costs. This can be frustrating for the patient. If expectations aren’t met, patients stop care and never get to experience the great results chiropractic care can give them.

Like the typical M.D., the symptomatic relief chiropractor primarily focuses on back pain and headaches. The treatment plan is usually dictated by the patient’s symptoms and/or insurance coverage. This means shorter overall treatment time, but still leaves the patient far short of correcting the cause of the symptom. The patient may feel better temporarily, but the spine and nerve system remain in a pathological state. The body degenerates silently, resulting in damage to spinal discs, joints, and whatever part of the body the affected nerve supplies. The bottom line is that treating only symptoms still leaves the cause uncorrected. Over time, the body’s imbalance will be expressed through another series of symptoms.

A wellness chiropractor follows the traditional philosophy of care. Originally, chiropractic was designed to maintain health of the whole body by supporting nerve system integrity. The nerve system is our internal electrical system that regulates all functions of the body and keeps us alive. Although the traditional wellness chiropractor wants his or her patients to feel better, their primary focus is removing the nerve interference (subluxation). A treatment plan will focus on resetting the nerve system to a more balanced state. The wellness chiropractor may use advanced diagnostics like nerve system scans or X-rays. These diagnostic procedures may be repeated at regular intervals to monitor progress of subluxation reduction.

When choosing a chiropractor, ask questions. Do you focus on subluxation? Do you provide wellness care? Do you teach about diet and exercise? Wellness doctors will say yes, we do.

About the author: Dr. Barbara Kaiser, DC, CCWP, is a wellness-certified chiropractor at Vital Life Chiropractic in Eagan, Minnesota.

Read Full Post »

The math on prescription drug benefits

Here is something you and your medical doctor may both be unaware of: the math on prescription drug benefits. If you see a drug advertisement, the numbers sound impressive: 45% or 50% reduction in heart attack, stroke, or bone fracture. That’s what the drug companies tell medical doctors, too. But these numbers are misleading because they are relative, not absolute. Let’s explain this important difference in reporting the math.

Let’s say we study 100 people for 5 years and tally the number of heart attacks. If four people have heart attacks, the absolute risk is 4%. If a second group of 100 people of similar age and lifestyle take a drug for 5 years and three people have heart attacks, the absolute risk has dropped to 3%. The absolute risk reduction from the drug intervention is 1%. However, the relative risk reduction has gone from 4% to 3%, which is a 25% drop in heart attacks. This 25% is what the drug companies broadcast in the news media, in medical education courses, and directly to you as a consumer. But what they are truly hanging their hat on is a 1% benefit, and a 99% chance that the drug will be useless.

Now let’s say you really want to be that one person out of 100 that is able to avoid a heart attack through drug therapy. As an informed consumer, you need to consider the risks of long-term drug therapy. Do the risks outweigh the benefits? For example, is there a 1% chance of developing a chronic illness like diabetes?

Let’s stop using hypothetical numbers. What is the math from medical research journals? Here it is: of people without known heart disease who took statin drugs for 5 years, 98% saw no benefit. The most recent literature suggests a 0.6% risk of developing diabetes as a result of long-term statin drug use. For every 20 people who avoided a heart attack or stroke, 6 people developed diabetes, which carries its own set of cardiovascular risks, plus kidney, visual, and neurological disabilities.

If health truly came in a bottle, Americans would be dying of old age.

 

About the author: Dr. Barbara Kaiser, DC, CCWP, is a wellness-certified chiropractor at Vital Life Chiropractic in Eagan, Minnesota.

 

Read Full Post »

Neuropathies and carpal tunnel syndrome

Numbness. Tingling. Weakness. Pain. No one wants any of these symptoms. If you have a combination of these symptoms and your doctor determines your suffering is nerve-related, you receive this diagnosis: neuropathy. When neuropathies occur in the hands, they are often diagnosed as carpal tunnel syndrome. Neuropathies can be caused by metabolic problems like diabetes or underactive thyroid. Another common cause is nerve pressure resulting from trauma. Neuropathy symptoms often occur in the arms and hands after a car accident. People who use their hands at work are at higher risk for developing carpal tunnel syndrome: hairdressers, carpenters, and people who type away at their keyboards all day long.

Medical treatment of neuropathies involves drugs, such as anticonvulsants and antidepressants to manage the numbness and tingling. But what drug can restore strength to a weakened body part? This particular symptom does not respond well to drug treatment. A surgeon can cut part of your wrist to relieve the pressure on the nerve that supplies the hand, but this may not provide permanent or complete relief.

If you want to avoid brain-altering drugs and expensive surgeries, you need to investigate another avenue: alignment. As the name “carpal tunnel syndrome” suggests, you have a tunnel in your wrist. This is an arch made of bones that allows the nerves, tendons, and blood vessels to travel to the hand, like a train travels through a tunnel. If the bones of the arch are slightly displaced, they can interfere with normal nerve function and cause numbness, tingling, weakness, and pain.

What health care specialist is best suited to evaluate the alignment of your wrists? Only a licensed doctor of chiropractic has the training and skills to diagnose interference to normal nerve function. More importantly, chiropractors can remove this interference. In some cases, the relief can be immediate, complete, and long-lasting. A thorough doctor of chiropractic will investigate whether carpal tunnel symptoms are coming directly from the wrist, indirectly through the nerves at the base of the neck, or somewhere in between.

 

About the author: Dr. Barbara Kaiser, DC, CCWP, is a wellness-certified chiropractor at Vital Life Chiropractic in Eagan, Minnesota.

 

Read Full Post »